QUICK thinking firefighters returning from a routine fire safety inspection helped to save the lives of two people who collapsed in a street in quick succession.

Crew manager Dan Green and firefighters Darren Bennett, Roy Maynard and Victor Muhammad, who all work at Wembley Fire Station, came to the rescue of a teenage girl who collapsed in Wembley High Street, on Wednesday, July 5, at about 3.40pm.

Shortly afterwards, they helped paramedics perform CPR on a pensioner who had suffered a heart attack just a few feet away, in an unrelated incident.

The crew had just completed a fire safety inspection when they came across a large crowd gathering in the road and immediately stopped to see if they could help.

The young girl, about 13 years old, had collapsed from what was believed to have been dehydration.

The four firefighters immediately stopped their fire engine and rushed to the scene, providing the girl with fluids and first aid until the London Ambulance Service arrived.

Further down the road, the crew spotted another ambulance team working on a man, in his seventies, who was suffering from a heart attack.

The firefighters assisted paramedics until the man’s heartbeat returned and he was taken by London Ambulance Service to North Middlesex Hospital in Haringey, north London.

Mr Green said: “To attend these two incidents on the way back to the station is unusual, but we are trained for every kind of incident.

“The whole crew worked really well together to help both people and I cannot commend the efforts of my colleagues highly enough.”

All four colleagues are due to be awarded by the London Fire Brigade for their quick thinking actions during the incidents.

“They didn’t hesitate to help the girl, acting with speed while there was a big crowd watching. I’ve no doubt that the actions of our firefighters, working with paramedics, helped save the lives of both the girl and the man. This is what the fire service is all about, helping people in need.

“The crew will be formally congratulated for their deployment of life saving skills and professional conduct.”

The London Ambulance Service attended both incidents and took the girl, who was not in serious condition, to Northwick Park Hospital.